The head of the United States Missile Defence Agency moved to reassure Russia Wednesday over a planned missile defence system, parts of which could be sited in eastern Europe. Russia has reacted angrily to a US announcement in January that Washington had started talks with Poland and the Czech Republic on installing a radar and 10 missile interceptors. But Lieutenant General Trey Obering told the Financial Times that Russia had no cause for alarm.
"We would not have chosen Poland or the Czech Republic if our criteria were to try to somehow offset the Russian ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) advantage," he said.
"We would have moved it farther west so that we could again give us more time to do that tracking and targeting."
Obering indicated that the Russians could be rightly alarmed if the shield was set in Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair favours hosting part of the so-called Son of Star Wars scheme.
"If they (the Russians) are concerned about us targeting their intercontinental ballistic missiles, I think that would be problematic from the UK because I believe we probably could catch them from a UK launch site," he added.
The US deputy chief of mission in London, David Johnson, has said, though, that Britain is not the main focus of the plans and described Poland and the Czech Republic as "the primary sites" under consideration.
Senior figures in Russia's military have warned that Russia could aim missiles at Poland and the Czech Republic if it allowed parts of the missile shield on their soil.
Source: Agence France-Presse
